


In Which Sebastian is Definitely Not Sick

by wolfie_winchester



Category: The Evil Within (Video Game)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, Future Fic, M/M, Post-Game, Sickfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-04
Updated: 2017-03-04
Packaged: 2018-09-28 05:12:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,371
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10073570
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wolfie_winchester/pseuds/wolfie_winchester
Summary: Sebastian comes down with a cold, leaving Leslie and Joseph to look after him, much to the older detective's chagrin.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Just a cute little fic I decided to write because I'm sick at the moment and also because the people in this game need hugs and for everything not to be terrible.

It starts as a cough. Sebastian is at work, slogging through the usual boring paperwork when he decides it’s time for a break. He finds Joseph at his desk and prompts the younger detective to join him. They walk outside and Sebastian takes a cigarette out, sticking it in his mouth before he turns to offer one to Joseph.

 

“No thanks,” Joseph says, waving a hand.

 

Sebastian shrugs. “Suit yourself,” he replies.

 

He lights up and already, he feels more relaxed as sweet nicotine fills his lungs. Joseph only shakes his head and makes a show of waving away the smoke that Sebastian blows out.

 

“Wish you’d quit that,” he says. “You always taste terrible afterwards.”

 

“Then don’t kiss me,” Sebastian says, smirking.

 

“Tempting,” Joseph teases.

 

Sebastian laughs, which shortly afterwards turns into a mini coughing fit. Okay, so maybe Joseph has a point. When he can finally breathe again, he regretfully drops the cigarette and puts it out with a foot. Joseph has a smug look on his face and Sebastian rolls his eyes.

 

“Don’t say it,” he says.

 

“Told you it’s bad for you,” he says. He comes over and pats him on the shoulder. “Don’t worry, Seb. If you quit now you can still save your lungs.”

 

“Ha ha,” Sebastian says sarcastically.

 

He turns towards his partner and wraps his arms around him. Joseph is still grinning up at him, that teasing look in his eyes and Sebastian reaches up, running his fingers through the other’s dark hair. It’s starting to grow out like how he’d had it when they were younger, when Joseph was still a little new to everything. Sebastian has to admit that Joseph looks good like this.

 

“So, how long do you think it’ll take us to finish that pile sitting on my desk?”

 

“Us?” Joseph says, laughing softly. “That’s _your_ job. I’m not helping you.”

 

“Aww, come on, Jo. Please?” Sebastian leans in closer, lips brushing Joseph’s ear. “I can make it up to you later.”

 

He feels Joseph shiver a bit in his arms and Sebastian smiles, knows that he’s got him right where he wants him.

 

“Hey! You two are still on the clock! Save it for when you leave!”

 

They leap apart from each other like they’ve been burned. Joseph’s cheeks are a little pink and Sebastian coughs - which is a little more genuine than he means it to be - and tries to act like he wasn’t just trying to seduce his boyfriend into helping him with the boring part of their job. Their boss is giving them that stern, disapproving look he always gets whenever he catches the two of them messing around, which is sadly more often than Sebastian would like.

 

“Sorry, sir,” he mutters.

 

“What you do on your time is your business, but let’s at least try to remain professional while you’re here, got it?”

 

“Yes, sir,” Joseph says.

 

“Anyway, I was looking for you. Oda, I need your help with something. And Castellanos, you’ve still got a mountain of paperwork sitting in your office,” he says.

 

Sebastian would roll his eyes if it weren’t his boss talking to him. Instead he just nods and they follow him back inside. Joseph heads off in a different direction with the captain and Sebastian reluctantly returns to his office. He sits at his desk with a huff and runs a hand through his hair, staring at the pile of manila folders and paper, wondering where to even start. He grabs the first one off the top and flips the folder open, eyes quickly scanning the contents on the page. He finds a pen that hasn’t run out of ink yet and after another brief coughing fit - which is a little concerning, he hopes he’s not coming down with something - he starts writing.

* * *

 

He’s made a nice sized dent in the pile on his desk by the time Joseph pokes his head into his office. Sebastian greets him without looking up from his work, only pausing to tug at the collar of his shirt. It feels warmer, even though he hasn’t touched the thermostat.

 

“How’s it going, Seb?” Joseph asks.

 

Sebastian shrugs and after finishing signing the page in front of him, he sets it aside and looks up at the other detective. “I’m almost halfway there,” he says.”No thanks to you.”

 

“Hey, I was doing something important,” he protests.

 

“Oh yeah? And what might that be?”

 

“The captain wanted a second pair of eyes for something,” Joseph says. “Thought I’d have some good insights.”

 

“Oh, and what was the-” Sebastian coughs into the crook of his elbow and Joseph raises an eyebrow.

 

“Are you... sick?”

 

“No!” Sebastian says between coughs. “I’m totally-” _Cough._ “One hundred percent-” _Cough._ “Fine.”

 

“Right. Maybe you _should_ take a break,” Joseph suggests.

 

“I’m fine,” he repeats, clearing his throat a bit.

 

“You sure? You look a little flushed.”

 

“It’s just warm in here. That’s all it is,” Sebastian insists. He won’t admit that he’s started to develop a headache too, an uncomfortable pressure on the right side that reminds him a little too much of the STEM incident. At least this time, he knows that his headache won’t be accompanied by mutilated monsters and creatures with safes for heads.

 

“If you insist.”

 

It’s obvious Joseph doesn’t believe him one bit and he walks over to sit on the edge of Sebastian’s desk, heedless of the papers scattered about. He slides off one of his leather gloves and presses the back of his hand to Sebastian’s forehead. Sebastian bats it away with a protest that he’s fine.

 

“You’re pretty hot,” Joseph says.

 

“Well, thank you, Joseph,” Sebastian says, smirking.

 

“You know what I mean.” Joseph slaps his arm playfully, rolling his eyes at him. “Come on. They’ve got a handle on things here. We can leave a little early. I’m sure this will all be here tomorrow.”

 

“Ugh,” Sebastian groans. “That’s why I want to get it done _now_.”

 

“Seb-”

 

“Just let me finish at least one more.”

 

“One more,” Joseph emphasizes, holding up a finger. “ _One_ more. And then you’re coming home.”

 

Sebastian huffs.

 

“Fine.”

* * *

 

Sebastian can see two familiar figures standing at the window when he and Joseph arrive home. As soon as they park, the front door opens and Mrs. Fuentes - their elderly neighbor - steps outside, accompanied by Leslie. He waddles over to them, hugging first Joseph and then Sebastian.

 

“Hey, Leslie. You have fun today?” Sebastian asks.

 

“Fun... fun... Yes! We colored. Pretty colors,” Leslie says, smiling up at him.

 

“That’s great! Can we see?”

 

Leslie nods and he turns around, shuffling towards the door. “This way!” he says excitedly.

 

Sebastian smiles and looks over at Joseph, who’s staring after Leslie with a fond expression. Mrs. Fuentes walks over to them, patting Sebastian on the shoulder with a hand.

 

“He’s such a kind boy,” she says. “He was very excited when Joseph called and said you were coming home early.”

 

“Thanks for looking after him, Mrs. Fuentes,” Joseph says.

 

“Oh, it’s no problem, dear. I know you two are very busy.”

 

She leans forward to kiss both of Sebastian’s cheeks before doing the same to Joseph. “Now,” she says, “you boys have a good day.”

 

“You too.”

 

They wave as she crosses the lawn back to her house and then Sebastian and Joseph head inside. They find Leslie in the living room, surrounded by papers and crayons of all colors. He’s sitting on the floor, rifling through the drawings like he’s looking for the best one to show them. When he finds it, he makes a satisfied noise and nods to himself before he holds it up for them to see.

 

“Wow, that’s very good, Leslie,” Joseph says, sitting down next to the boy. “May I hold it?”

 

“Mmhm,” Leslie hums.

 

Joseph takes the drawing from him and turns slightly so he can show Sebastian. The paper is an explosion of colors, greens and blues and others all blended together. To anyone else, it would look like nothing more than senseless scribbles, but Sebastian has gotten used to how Leslie sees things. He can pick out the shapes that represent himself and Joseph on the page, their colors merging together. Next to them is a spot of white that he recognizes as Leslie.

 

“Who’s this one?” Sebastian asks, pointing to a spot of lavender purple. It’s not one he recognizes, but whoever it is, they’re standing next to Leslie too, along with Joseph and Sebastian.

 

“This one... this one...,” Leslie looks at the spot where he’s pointing and he smiles. “Ella... Ella... Nice. Nice lady.”

 

Ella. That would be Mrs. Fuentes, then. Sebastian’s glad that Leslie seems to like her just as much as she likes him. He’d been a little nervous the first time that he and Joseph had to go into work at the same time. After STEM, they took Leslie in, knowing that he didn’t want to go back to a mental hospital again any time soon. He’d tried looking into babysitters, but most of them that were in the area were teenagers looking to make a little money during the summer. They wouldn’t understand why Leslie needed help.

 

Mrs. Fuentes, however, had always been a kind neighbor and after her husband passed away, he knew that she was a little lonely. She’d been more than happy to help take care of Leslie while they were away.

 

“She is a nice lady,” Joseph agrees, smiling at him.

 

“She reads stories. Stories are nice,” Leslie says.

 

“They are. Maybe tonight we can-” Sebastian starts to cough again and Leslie jumps a little at the noise while Joseph only sighs before getting up. He heads towards the bathroom and a few seconds later returns with a packet of cough drops. Sebastian waves a hand. He doesn’t need them. He’s totally fine. Not sick at all.

 

“Sebastian,” Joseph says insistently, shaking the packet at him. “Come on. You sound terrible.”

 

“Terrible... terrible,” Leslie agrees. “Sebastian... s-sick?”

 

“I’m not sick,” Sebastian insists. “It’s just a cough.”

 

“Cough... Sick... No hospital?” Leslie asks, sounding nervous.

 

“No, he doesn’t need a hospital,” Joseph assures him. “It’s probably just a cold. It’s nothing serious.”

 

Leslie nods, relieved at that. “Good, good,” he says. “Should rest, though... Right?”

 

“Yes. He should rest,” Joseph says, giving Sebastian a pointed look.

 

“Oh, I see how it is,” Sebastian says, glancing at the two of them. “But no, I’m fine. You two don’t have to worry about me.”

* * *

 

Later that night sees Sebastian lying in bed, trying not to hack up his lungs. He groans and stares up at the ceiling. This is stupid. He’s survived giant mutated dog monsters, a safe-headed freak, and the twisted mind of a psychopath and he’s thwarted by a cold. Stupid, he thinks again. He has a cold washcloth on his head to help with the headache and there’s a bottle of water on the table next to the bed along with some ibuprofen. He’d taken some a while ago, but he’s still waiting for it to kick in.

 

“Seb?” Joseph’s voice comes floating through the door, accompanied by a soft knock. “Are you awake?”

 

“Unfortunately,” Sebastian says, fully aware of how stuffy he sounds.

 

Joseph steps inside and Sebastian can see the effort it’s taking him not to grin, his mouth twitching upwards. He’d roll his eyes, if it didn’t hurt so much.

 

“Glad to see you’re enjoying my misery,” he mutters.

 

“I’m not,” Joseph insists, though there’s laughter in his voice. “I’m just... checking to see how you’re feeling.”

 

“Like shit,” Sebastian says.

 

Joseph does laugh then and he shakes his head. “You know, you act like such a tough, no nonsense badass all the time and then you catch a cold and you turn into a whiny five year old.”

 

“I do not!” Sebastian definitely doesn’t whine when he says that.

 

“You so do. But that’s okay. I still love you,” Joseph says, smiling fondly at him.

 

“Lucky me,” Sebastian says, but he’s grinning too. “What time is it?”

 

“Almost ten. I’m gonna go say goodnight to Leslie. Want me to bring him by?”

 

“If he wants to.”

 

Joseph nods and he leaves, the door ajar just enough to let the light from the hallway flow in. Sebastian coughs some more and now that he’s alone, he doesn’t care if he lets a pitiful whine slip out. God, this sucks. He reaches over for the box of tissues, hoping to clear his sinuses enough so he can at least breathe when he goes to sleep. But of course, there’s only one left. The trash can next to the bed that Joseph had put there is full of them. Sebastian groans again, not wanting to get out of bed to grab another box. But when he sneezes a few times into the tissue he’s got left, he realizes he probably doesn’t have much of a choice.

 

Just as he’s starting to muster up the willpower to shove the blankets off of him, he hears footsteps in the hallway and soft voices speaking. He can’t hear what they’re saying, but soon enough, the door creaks open and Leslie waddles in. He’s holding a box of tissues in his hands and he comes over to Sebastian’s bedside, holding them out to him.

 

“You brought me tissues?” he asks, even though it’s obvious that he has.

 

“Tissues... tissues... For you, S-Sebastian,” he says, smiling.

 

And if that isn’t one of the cutest things Sebastian’s ever seen. Despite how crappy he’s feeling, he smiles and sits up so he can take the tissues from Leslie. “Thank you,” he says. “I would hug you, but I don’t want to get you sick too.”

 

Leslie just nods and he hovers there, swaying on the spot in the way that he does. “Maybe... story later?”

 

“When I feel better, we can read as many stories as you want,” Sebastian promises.

 

“Really?”

 

“Really.”

 

“Oh, good! Good!” Leslie says, laughing happily. “Better soon?”

 

“I hope so,” he says. He reaches out and ruffles Leslie’s white hair. “Go get some sleep, kiddo. I’ll see you in the morning.”

 

Leslie smiles and he nods again. “Good... goodnight, Sebastian.”

 

“Night, Leslie.”

 


End file.
